


One Too Many Coloring Books pt 2

by Fidelius



Series: Not Your Typical Family Drabbles [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Nonsexual Ageplay, Phil IS a superhero tho, Tony is getting there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 21:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19237435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fidelius/pseuds/Fidelius
Summary: Chinese takeout and discussion about ageplay and how to get from point A to point B; eye contact while talking optional. That was what he’d assumed Clint’s dinner invite would entail. Instead, he ended up the cheese man in a croissant pizza roll-up assembly line.





	One Too Many Coloring Books pt 2

**Author's Note:**

> I know it has been roughly sixty-five years since I last updated/posted to this series. I'm still here and things are still in the works and I still love this series. I have a lot less free time to write now is all.

Chinese takeout and discussion about ageplay and how to get from point A to point B; eye contact while talking optional. That was what he’d assumed Clint’s dinner invite would entail. Instead, he ended up the cheese man in a croissant pizza roll-up assembly line. Bruce had rolled the dough out, Tony had placed half a stick of mozzarella string cheese on the dough, Clint had added the pepperoni, Natasha had added olives, and Phil had rolled them up.

Start to finish the process took roughly fifteen minutes. Just enough time, according to Phil, for the oven to heat up. Once the roll-ups were in the oven, Phil shooed Natasha and Bruce out of the kitchen and had Tony sit down at the table with him and Clint.

They’d been there for three minutes and forty-four, forty-five, forty-six seconds and not a word had been spoken. At least the optional eye contact assumption had been right.

“Tony?” Phil said his name like he thought Tony was a scared kitten, “Clint told me why you’re here, but I would like to hear it from you.”

He’d seen Clint shooting off texts in the car and had known without asking that they were to Phil. Who else would he be talking to given their situation? Knowing that Phil was aware of what was on Tony’s mind helped ease the knot in his stomach somewhat, but the desire to keep it all to himself was still there.

“I…” Tony looked at Clint, his eyes pleading as he tried to find the words to explain what he wanted, why he wanted it, and how unfair it was that Steve was giving those things to other people.

Clint didn’t hesitate to step in and help, “Steve bought surprises for me and Nakta but not Tony, and that makes Tony feel sad.”

Tony nodded even though there was so much more to it than coloring books. It was the stuffed animals from Pepper and the special trips to farmers markets and tea shops with Bruce. It was the knitted leg warmers and the gentle words and everything that he wanted so very much from Steve but still didn’t have.

“Why does it make you feel sad, Tony?”

Tony didn’t want to say out loud why it made him sad. He had a hard enough time unpacking it for himself; explaining it to Phil was the stuff of his nightmares. Still, Clint had invited him over, and Phil had used a gentle voice and soft words since he and Clint had arrived. That had to count for something, had to _mean_ something.

“Because,” Tony took a deep breath and traced the pink heart on the placemat in front of him. “I share with everybody all the time. I don’t wanna share Steve. I don’t think it’s fair that he’s...why can’t he like me best?”

Tony wasn’t going to cry about it. It didn’t matter that his eyes were prickling and his stomach was full of angry wasps. He’d gotten through worse all on his own, and he didn’t need Steve to take care of him.

He wanted it, though.

“Tony, sweetheart, can you look at me please?” Phil waited until Tony lifted his head to start talking again, “I promise with my whole heart that Steve likes you best.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. If Steve liked him best, he’d know. Steve would have told him. “You don’t know that.”

Phil smiled, “Yes, I do, Tony. Steve told me himself that you are his favorite boy.”

Phil’s phrasing wasn’t lost on Tony. If Steve had said that then maybe that meant he wanted to take care of Tony like Tony wanted him to. But if Steve _did_ want to take care of him, why hadn’t he said anything about it?

“He never told me that.”

“Did you ever ask him?” Phil waited, his eyebrows raised in question. When Tony shook his head no, Phil patted his hand. “There you go, kiddo. You have to ask him.”

Tony wasn’t sure he even knew how to ask Steve for what he wanted. What they both wanted, according to Phil.

“Don’t know how,” Tony said softly. There wasn’t much he didn’t know, and between that and his emotional confusion, Tony felt small and helpless in a way that he hadn’t in a long time.

Phil smiled and patted his hand, “That’s why Clint brought you here, kiddo. So I could help.”

“Папочка is good at helping,” Natasha said softly from the doorway that led to the living room. Tony could see Bruce behind her as well. “He helps me.”

Tony didn’t know why but hearing that admission, short as it was, made him feel better but it did. If Phil could help Natasha then maybe, just maybe, he could help Tony too.

“It’s true.” Clint supplied with a nod, “Daddy fights _bad guys_. He’s a superhero! Did you know that, Tony?”  
Tony did know that. Big Tony was well aware of Agent Coulson and the things he was capable of. Little Tony wasn’t aware of Agent Coulson. He just knew that Phil had been helpful and that he knew how to make croissant roll pizza. If Clint, who was his best friend and also knew so much stuff about everything already, said his daddy was a superhero then so-be-it.

Phil was a superhero and Tony was beyond impressed.

“I didn’t!” Tony whispered with awe, his eyes wide as he looked from Clint to Phil.

“And your daddy is a Capt’n! He’s a superhero too!” Clint said excitedly.

Tony frowned. He knew that Clint meant Steve, but Steve wasn’t his daddy. Tony didn’t have a daddy.

“He’s not...I don’t have a daddy.”

“Course you do!” Clint said as he leaned towards Tony, his eyes bright with excitement, “He just doesn’t know it yet.”


End file.
